The state of Utah is on the brink of enacting a dangerous piece of legislation, as a bill that would criminalize women for having miscarriages has now passed both the state House and Senate and is heading to the governor for his signature. The bill, which was inspired by an incident in which a woman who was seven months pregnant paid a man $150 to assault her in the hopes of causing a miscarriage, would allow murder charges to be brought against a woman who arranges to have an illegal abortion. As troubling as that is, it just gets worse. Though the bill does include language that protects a woman from prosecution if she secures a legal abortion, it also allows charges to be brought against women who have a miscarriage through an “intentional, knowing, or reckless” act.

Of course, “reckless act” is not defined, leading it open to any number of interpretations. As commentators on the linked article point out, could a woman who has a miscarriage after going skiing or biking be charged with murder? How about one who neglects to wear a seatbelt and gets in a car accident? Will a pregnant woman who falls down a flight of stairs be under a cloud of suspicion, as police attempt to ascertain if it truly was an accident? (Not to mention the domestic abuse and substance abuse issue that this fine article points out.) The fact that this bill allows prosecutions for miscarriages in the first trimester could also means that a woman could be charged with a crime for engaging in “reckless” behavior and causing a miscarriage for a pregnancy she didn’t even know she had.

There is still hope that the governor of Utah won’t sign the bill, but I’m not especially optimistic. The end result is a law that both severely punishes women and acts as a vote of tacit approval for the more chilling pieces of anti-choice legislation. What do you think? Is this bill’s success the start of more extreme anti-choice bills?

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